"Thank you to all the fans, my teammates, and the Wilf family for the past 8.5 years. I wouldn't have traded it for anything.

"And thank you everyone for your support. Remember, one label does not define who you are as a person :)"

Kluwe's time with the Vikings ended Monday in a five-minute meeting with general manager Rick Spielman and coach Leslie Frazier that left a handful of questions unanswered.

Spielman and Frazier thanked the punter for his eight seasons with the team and his contributions to the community, Kluwe said. They offered few specifics about why the team would be releasing him, Kluwe said, and the 31-year-old punter didn't ask for many.

The iconoclastic punter was expecting it when the team drafted Jeff Locke in the fifth round April 27. The Vikings had not drafted a punter in a decade, and they never had drafted one so high.

Kluwe averaged a career-high 39.

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7 net yards per punt last year, but that mark was only the 17th-best in the league, as he struggled to pin opponents deep in their own territory. His 18 punts inside the 20-yard line were 31st-most in the league.

The left-footed Locke has excelled as a directional punter, leading the Pac-12 with 34 punts inside the 20 and landing 21 inside the 10-yard line. With Kluwe due to make $1.45 million in 2013 -- and the Vikings facing no salary cap penalty for cutting him -- the decision could be viewed as one of several they have made aimed at getting younger and more cap flexibility.

If the Vikings already had reached a decision after drafting Locke, Kluwe had asked them, could they move quickly so he could more easily find work with another team?

"I would have loved to compete (for the job) if it would have ended up being a fair competition," Kluwe said. "But when you draft a punter in the fifth round, generally that's the guy you're going to go with."

Said Spielman in a statement: "Chris has meant a great deal to the Vikings both on and off the field in his eight seasons here. He contributed to many victories and we wish Chris and his family the best and thank him for his contributions to the Vikings organization. Out of respect to Chris, we decided to release him now and allow time for him to sign with another team."

But with Kluwe, there was another layer to the story.

The punter has been one of Minnesota's most outspoken and controversial athletes of the 21st century. Also a UCLA product -- he had entered the school with a perfect verbal score on his SAT -- he became known for some of his off-field pursuits. He loved video games and became a sensation on "Guitar Hero" and a traditional guitarist in his own band, Tripping Icarus.

Kluwe embraced social media, using it to lampoon the NFL's crackdown on violence, for example. But the 2012 season turned him into a national figure, primarily for his championing of gay rights. He campaigned hard against Minnesota's proposed constitutional amendment to define marriage as being between one man and one woman, which was voted down.

He also stumped for Ray Guy to become the first punter in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, which led special teams coordinator Mike Priefer to say, "Those distractions are getting old for me," adding Kluwe needed to focus on punting and holding.

When Spielman initially spoke to the media about the team's decision to draft Locke, he said it had nothing to do with Kluwe's outspokenness, adding, "I have no issues if Chris wants to express his opinion. That's his right. That's his freedom of speech."

Asked Monday if he has ever thought life as an NFL player would be easier if he had kept his opinions to himself, Kluwe said, "I'm sure it probably would be. But I feel there are important societal issues that need to be talked about. At the end of the day, we're playing a children's game, and there are legitimate societal issues we need to fix. If that involves me jeopardizing my NFL career, that's a trade I'll make."

The punter will be on waivers until Tuesday and will be free to negotiate with other teams if he is not claimed. When he meets with new potential employers, Kluwe said, he plans to tell them exactly what they'd get.

"When I'm at your facility, playing football, that is what I'm focused on, 100 percent of the time," Kluwe said. "But away from the football field, I'm going to live my life. (Gay rights are) not something I'm going to stop speaking out about.

"All I know is, when I'm playing football, that is the sole purpose of what I'm doing. But anyone who thinks you need to focus on your job 24 hours a day is probably insane."

Kluwe, who had surgery to clean up some cartilage damage in his left knee this winter, has been punting and working out for much of the spring. He said he is "as close to 100 percent as a 31-year-old can be."

An undrafted free agent originally signed and then released by Seattle before the 2005 season, Kluwe arrived in Minnesota in time to become the Vikings' punter all year. He leaves Minnesota with the second-longest tenure of any punter in team history, behind Greg Coleman (1978-87).

If he lands with another team, Kluwe says, he can provide value for several more seasons. He said Frazier echoed that sentiment Monday, telling Kluwe the punter would definitely have a shot at other teams.

And with that, in a short meeting filled with more pleasantries than explanations, the Vikings closed the book on their time with one of the league's more fascinating characters.

Briefly

The Vikings made a trio of other roster moves, most notably signing Minnesota State Mankato wide receiver Adam Thielen. Thielen, who was in the Vikings' rookie camp over the weekend, was the Division II Mavericks' leading receiver in 2012, catching 74 passes for 1,176 yards and eight touchdowns. ... The Vikings also signed former Arizona Cardinals lineman Brandon Keith, who played in 26 games and started 20 for the team from 2008-11. To make room for Thielen and Keith, the Vikings released wide receiver Nicholas Edwards, who signed as an undrafted free agent last week.